Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Tonight I went to Alexandria, Virginia, and sat in on a lecture at Gadsby’s Tavern on the relationship between George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. As you might have seen from the title, trying to write out the latter's name completly would kill someone.

The lecture was given by Professor Peter Henriques, a former George Mason University professor and a man who, in my opinion, is one of the great unsung scholars on George Washington. As a whole, the lecture was an interesting insight into the mutual admiration that both men had towards each other. For Lafayette, Washington was more of a father figure. For Washington, Lafayette was the son he could never have. Throughout the entire lecture, I could not help but feel I needed to have my trusty notebook at my side taking notes and thinking of ways of how I could use this information to lecture my students on Washington and the ways in which one can be like a Virginia gentleman.

At this time, I would like to go ahead and promote Professor Henriques’ book: Realistic Visionary. Click on the title to check it out at Amazon. This book is an excellent read and gives a look into the more personal life of Washington. Instead of going over the standard parts of the man’s life, Henriques explores the inner workings of his life and how different aspects of it helped shape him into the man we know today.